Chloe Smith praised for social mobility work

Chloe Smith, MP for Norwich North, this week used the final Work and Pensions Questions before the summer recess to argue that all parts of the community must work together if efforts to boost social mobility are to succeed.  Her social mobility project for Norwich gained praise from the Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb.

 

Chloe is currently leading on work to improve social mobility in Norwich. The campaign, which builds on the success of her Norwich for Jobs project, aims to bring together businesses, schools, charities and our local authorities to develop a coordinated strategy. In Parliament she has worked to bring together politicians of all parties to share best practice on what MPs can be doing locally to address the issue in their constituencies.

 

Speaking in the House of Commons, Chloe said:

 

“My right hon. Friend will know that Norwich is challenged by social mobility as per the social mobility index of earlier this ​year. Does he agree with me that it takes all parts of the community to come together to address these kind of problems, including the private sector and the third sector, and that constituency MPs can also play a key role in leading these things?”

 

Responding to Chloe’s question, the Secretary of State replied:

 

“I agree absolutely with my hon. Friend. The work she has championed in Norwich is a good example of local action, showing where local MPs can indeed be the champions. Much as we might want to talk about national levels of poverty and social mobility, it is much more important to understand what is going on at a local level and to drive local action with effective partnerships.”